The Glass Trains
by cocopenn
Summary: As if being a teenager isn't hard enough, the students at the Disney School District yearn for adventure, freedom, a destiny, time control, justice, and, above all, answers. They're told to sit and wait, but as we all know, ain't nobody got time for dat. Now hand each of these students a glass train that shows a peek of their otherwise unknown future. What happens? Shit goes down.
1. A Different Story

"Adventure is out there!" - Up

Madeline's POV (A/N This is not a Disney character, I just created her. How you ask? Magic. *waves hands around like a hyper magician as readers back away slowly*)

Oh, great. 8th grade. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with my friends at school. I just was not looking forward to this particular year. My best friends, Court Goof and Dani Duck understood, since they also had parents who worked at Disney School District.

"Maddie, did you finish packing yet?" I glanced at my empty suitcase, ripped off my headphones, tossed them to the side with my phone, and hurriedly crammed clothes inside.

"Uh, yeah Dad, I'll be done soon." I went to my closet and grabbed polka dot dress after polka dot dress, some with large buttons and others with bows.

"Alright, don't forget your schedule! Mom and I have to leave now, have a great first day!"

Court and Dani were meant to meet at my house soon so we could walk to school together, since my house was right in the middle of their houses and it was a common meeting spot for us. I lived right across the street from school, considering my mom and dad worked there, but with the large amount of people in Disney, some students lived on the very outskirts of the large city (which really was a small island). So to make things easier for everyone, Uncle Walt had constructed a building for dorm rooms in the center of the school for grades 8-12 and a nursery for grades PreK-7 before he left my dad, Mickey Mouse, in charge of DSD and left to build Disneyland and Disney World.

I quickly finished zipping up my two hot pink luggage with gold polka dots. I started to try and get a comfortable grip on everything so I could move it out of room when I heard the doorbell ring. I dropped my bags and ran to the door in excitement.

"Maddie!" Court and Dani shouted my name with joy when I opened the door and I hugged them, glad to see them after spending two months in Hawaii while they were in France and England. They dropped off their luggage in my living room and we began to discuss our schedule, hoping it matched.

"What's your first period?" I asked the two as we headed to my room so I could move my bags.

"I have band, so you guys have it too then, right?" Court's hazel eyes shone with excitement. We all were huge fans of the class, taking it since we could in 4th grade. Court played the saxophone, Dani played the bassoon, and I played the trumpet.

"Oh, yeah, I do, I totally forgot that the entire band is combined into a one period class starting 8th grade. Well that was a stupid question to ask." We giggled and I opened my door. I grabbed all my bags, struggling to do so, and Dani and Court picked theirs back up when we passed by the living room again.

"What about second period? I have Japanese with Mr. Hamada so you guys won't be there but I'm still curious," Dani asked, her blonde ponytail swishing in front of me as we walked out the front door.

"I got Story Studies with Calliope," Court replied.

"French with Monsieur Lumiére. I have Calliope for Story Studies, too, just a different period." I locked the door behind us and we quickly glanced down both ends of the circular road then scurried across to school. I pulled out my DSD key card and scanned it past the reader, then walked through the glass doors that opened automatically and closed immediately after I walked in, a system that stopped tailgaters from sneaking into the school. Dani scanned her card next, and then Court came after.

Students' safeties were first priority, so even though there was already a transparent, bulletproof, camouflage dome surrounding the island that concealed it from the prying eyes of humans, another surrounded the school.

I still remember the first time I had really begun to understand the security system in Disney. I had been sitting in the lounge on Floor A of the dorm building with Court and Dani in second grade when a massive ship glided through the walls and sped towards us. At first we dropped everything and ran to the farthest corner of the room, screaming bloody murder, when our chaperone came over and told us to calm down. She explained that the ship and anything else going through could not feel, touch, or see the island, nor anything within the dome. Then she gestured towards a group of high schoolers sitting at the back of the room calmly doing work as the ship passed right through them. I shuddered at the eerie memory of seeing a huge bulk of material slide through students' bodies.

"What about third?" Court asked us, as we let our eyes rest with happiness at the small pack of students surrounding the office building to ask for their dorm numbers and roommates. The three of us were pretty early, as usual, since we all had a weird irrational fear of being late. Even being on time was stretching it. We bounced over to the line leading towards the office, the familiarity of school giving us an excited energy.

"I have History with Clio." This I bit my lip at saying because in grades 8-12, everyone kept the same schedule. If Dani and Court didn't have the same teachers as me, we would be separated for the next 5 years.

"Same here!" Dani and Court cheered. Dani then took a deep breath of hope at her next words.

"4th period Algebra with De Vil, 5th period Science with Yzma, 6th period PE with Coach Phil, and 7th period Story Studies with Calliope."

"Yes!" I did a small fist pump. "I have the exact same classes!"

"The only thing that's different for me is I have Spanish with Pacha for 7th period, but everything else matches!" Courtney shouted. We squealed, getting stares from others that weren't confused looks, since they most likely knew why we were squealing, but were more of a "dear lord that was loud" kind of expression. Trust me, we get that look a lot.

The girl in front of me got her forms and I stepped up, eager to receive mine as well.

"Morning Mrs. Duck," I said to Dani's mom, the secretary, and she smiled in return, already typing in my name without having to ask. It wasn't just me she was familiar with, she knew every single student's name, face, and contact info.

"Good morning, sweetie! Excited for this year?" She asked as the papers printed. No, not at all, I thought in reply but shook the thought off.

"Yep." She handed me the sheets and room key and I quickly moved to the side so she could print Dani and Court's information. Room D28. Roommates - Alice Wonders, Ella Cinders, and Lilo Kahakai. Yes! Lilo! I had spent most of my summer at her family's house in Hawaii, and we had gotten along great. She and her sister were second-generation characters, so they could actually choose whether to attend DSD or stay in the human world as "crossers," a mix of character and human. I was a bit saddened that I didn't have Dani or Court, but I somewhat knew Ella. She was a bit of a neat freak from what I could tell, but in my opinion, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. I had no idea who Alice was, though. Despite each individual grade only having 28 students at most, classes at DSD were always combinations of certain grades so we hardly so people form our own grade. I looked up from my sheet as Dani walked over to me with her papers.

"I'm in Room D26 with Aurora Briars, Maleficent Crow, and Belle Rose," Dani shrugged. "I've talked to Belle a couple times, she's ok, but I really don't know Maleficent or Aurora very well. Who do you have?"

"I've got Alice Wonders, Ella Cinders, and Lilo Kahakai. Oh, and I'm in D28 so at least our rooms will be right next to each other!" Dani grinned and was about to reply something when Court walked up, eyes scanning her paper quickly.

"I've got Mulan Fa, Jessie Lasso, and Merida DunBroch with me in Room D23. What about you guys?" Dani and I showed her our papers and she frowned a bit, an unusual expression on the crazy, happy-go-lucky girl. "My room is a bit far from you guys, but at least we have similar schedules!" We started towards the dorm building and began talking about our roommates.

(A/N D23 is a Disney fan convention that stands for Disney '23 since the Disney company started in 1923. In 1926, the animation company was officially named The Walt Disney Studio, and in 1928, Mickey and Minnie were created, after Oswald was lost :( Anyways, just wanted to explain the little reference I made.)

"Mulan was in our Science class before, she's ok. I've never met Merida or Jessie before though. I've never even heard their names!" Court talked in the fast pace and twisted her dark brown-red pigtails like she usually did when she was stressed. She loved meeting new people, but worried that they didn't like meeting her.

"You will be absolutely fine, don't worry!" I reassured her as we approached the dorm building doors and repeated the same individual scanning process we went through at the school entrance. She seemed to be calming down, as she continued twisting her pigtails out of habit but at a slower pace than were only four students on Floor A, and they had only their backpacks with them so must have already unpacked and wanted to look around the game room, lounge, and kitchen on this floor. I pressed the button to go up on the South elevator, the one closest to the dorm entrance. The metal doors opened immediately and we stepped in one at a time, struggling a bit to fit comfortably because of all our luggage and the elevators weren't exactly large. The doors began to close when a girl rushed in, holding not as much luggage as us but still enough to struggle to run with.

"Wait! Hold the door!" I quickly pressed the "keep door open" button and she jumped in, panting slightly, her fair skin flushed and closed her blue eyes with relief as the doors slid closed again. She opened her eyes again soon and slid off her black hairband so she could finger-comb her frenzied hair quickly before putting the headband on again.

"Thank you so much, I would hate to be late on the first day," she gasped gratefully while smoothing out her blue skirt and white blouse. I opened my mouth to tell her we had plenty of time when she spoke again. "Well, late to be early anyways. Don't ask, it's a weird quirk of mine." Dani, Court, and I made eye contact quickly and we smiled.

"Yes! Someone finally understands us!" Court jumped with glee, stopping quickly because she still had to hold her bags.

"We have a thing about being early always, too," I told her, giggling. The girl widened her eyes.

"Finally! Where have you guys been all my life?" she joked. "I especially can't afford to be late on this very important date! We get to start story development!" Me and my friends' smiles dimmed a bit as we shared a look of how much we were not looking forward to be told to work and manage others for the rest of our lives. Dani quickly changed the subject.

"I'm Danielle Duck by the way, but you can just call me Dani." Dani stretched her hand out for a handshake, which was kind of a formal move for an 8th grader but very casual for an 8th grader like Dani.

"I'm Court! Well, actually Courtney Goof but no one calls me that, just Court. On occasion I'm called Courtney but that's in very serious situations and I don't like those situations 'cause serious means not fun," Court rambled. Dani frowned at the "serious means not fun" bit, since she considered herself serious and fun, but let it pass. The other girl laughed at her hyper behavior.

"I'm Alice, Alice Wonders." She gave a small wave and turned towards me, waiting for my introduction. At the sound of her name, my eyes widened.

"Hey, I think you're in my dorm! Room D26? I'm Madeline Mouse, but feel free to call me Maddie."

"Yeah, nice to meet you! Wait, so you guys all have parents in the head of DSD staff? That's so cool!" Alice said, to which we only nodded silently in half-agreement. "Glad to know at least one of my roommates are friendly! I don't even know Ella or Lilo," she explained. By now we had begun to walk out of the elevator and were staring down the long hallway. I had heard descriptions from older students in the past talking about how amazing the Floors D-H were, but it still dazzled me as we walked underneath chandeliers towards the dorms. The four of us walked in silence taking in the sight as we approached Court's room.

"Well, this is me, I'll see you guys at breakfast!" Court energetically bid farewell and the remaining three of us walked to D26, my room.

"Bye Dani," Alice and I said at the same time as I unlocked our door. I gasped and stepped aside so Alice could admire the view as well. Two queen-sized beds were backed against the wall we were facing with a floor-to-ceiling window in between. Another queen-sized bed was on our right with the foot of the bed facing us, and on the left a fourth bed was symmetrical to it. Between that bed and the bed on the left of the window was a large door and Alice and I dropped our luggage in the middle of the room to explore what was behind that door. A large bathroom awaited us with shining white marble tiles, a large bathtub with jets, a spacious shower, and a large counter for everyone's bathroom necessities.

"Whoa," was the only thing I could think to say. We walked back to the beds and I claimed the bed between the window and bathroom, Alice choosing the one next to mine. Alice and I chatted while stripping our beds of their previous white sheets and replacing them with our own. Alice's was an odd checkered sort of pattern with different poker cards on a blue background. Her pillows were a swirly, slightly hypnotizing pattern of red and white. My sheets and pillows were dark pink with a large golden bow on each pillow and gold polka dots on the sheets. I put my now empty suitcase under my bed, left with only my clothes suitcase to unpack.

I unzipped my second suitcase and as the two of us began to hang up our dresses, we heard a the door unlock. We both stopped what we were doing to see which roommate was going to arrive. Ella poked her head in the room and Alice and I waited a moment for her to take in the amazing room before introducing ourselves.

"Hey Ella!" I said cheerfully as she walked in.

"Hey Maddie! Wow, this room is quite extravagant, isn't it?" Her orange-blonde hair was in its usual casual up-do as she scanned the room some more with her blue eyes.

"You should see the bathroom," Alice spoke up. Cinderella turned towards her and smiled.

"You must be either Lilo or Alice," Cinderella said in a friendly tone.

"Alice," the blonde confirmed.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ella Cinders. So, I guess I'll take the bed over here," Ella said, gesturing towards the bed on near Alice as she walked over. She began to unpack and Alice and I compared our schedules with hers. I didn't have any classes with her, but Alice had four in common. I finished emptying the second suitcase, hung up my purse and shoulder bag on hooks on the inside of the closet door for later occasions, and slung my backpack over my shoulder, ready to leave. School started at 8:15 and it was now 7:30, leaving time for a sit-down breakfast and a casual walk to get to band early. Alice was ready to leave as well and we said bye to Ella before heading towards the kitchen.

When we got there, Court was already frying some eggs and four pieces of bread were in the toaster. She turned around to greet us, not even looking at the frying pan but still flipping her egg perfectly.

"Hey guys! I wasn't sure when you would be here, but I toasted a piece of bread for each of us and I'm scrambling the second egg now." Alice and I thanked her and started slicing apples when Dani arrived.

"Hey Dani, how are your roommates?" I asked while cutting.

"They all seem really nice, and Belle has Story Studies with us for third period. Aurora and Maleficent have completely different schedules though. How about you guys?"

"Lilo didn't arrive yet when we left, but I met Ella and she's really nice. She has 1st, 4th, 5th, and 7th with me, but none with you guys, I think," Alice answered for the both of us. Court jumped in immediately, eager to share.

"At first, only Merida and Mulan were there, and they're alright, I think we'll get along great. Turns out Merida is new here, she just moved from Scotland! Isn't that so cool?" Not waiting for our answer, Court continued to babble. "And then Jessie arrived and she is absolutely awesome! I might have actually met someone who's just as crazy as me! I have been waiting for this day for so long! She's always been a student, just never in my class. She's adopted and has a twin brother named Woody and another brother in our grade who is the son of the parents that adopted her and his name is Andy and she has a horse named Bullseye which is so cool I've always wanted a horse but then again dogs are super cool so I guess I would choose dogs cuz they're easier to take care of wouldn't you but even if you wouldn't I guess to each his own am I right?" She didn't even breathe once during that entire monologue, and we all just nodded our heads, unsure of what she said exactly. Alice looked completely bewildered, not as used to these fast speeches as Dani and I were. We had all finished breakfast by now so the four of us left the kitchen. We saw Merida, Mulan, and Belle heading towards the kitchen and we introduced ourselves to each other, then headed for the East elevator.

"Oh, I just remembered, I actually have to go to the West elevator, I have Cooking with Mrs. Potts first. Bye!" Alice said when we reached the intersection of the floor and turned left. We waved and turned right, and began discussing what music we would play in band.

"Apparently this year, instead of just having Sebastian to teach us, we have a crosser writing the music. I can't remember his name, but I heard he was really good from older students," Dani said cheerily as we stepped inside the elevator. Her description rang a bell in my head and I eagerly told them what I knew about the crosser teacher.

"Oh! I know who you're talking about! It's Professor Menken, and he is an amazing composer. I'm not entirely sure why he has to come here to write music instead of just sending us scores, but anyways, expect good music this year." I explained, since Professor Menken was a good friend of my dad and his brothers.

"It's the first day though, I bet we're just gonna be talking about story development and not about music since it's the first period." At Court's words, we all groaned, mood dampened. Soon the doors slid open and we walked towards the band room, shoulders slumped and feet dragging. When we got there, everyone chatted and we sat in our seats when the bell rang, not having to set up on the first day. Sebastian walked up to the podium with a familiar click-clack sound. His character was a crab, so he had a special screen that enlarged him to human size when he wanted us to be able to see him. He did this now, and everyone smiled at his familiar face.

"Morning, music lovers! I have missed you all over the summer," he greeted in a chipper Jamaican accent.

"Morning Sebastian!" we all chorused loudly.

"Tomorrow we will talk about the music we will play this year, but for now, I am required to inform you about... Drumroll please," he said, gesturing towards the percussionists in the back, who complied. "Story development!" Everyone besides Dani, Court, and I cheered loudly. I spaced out while the teacher waited for students to settle, and got lost in my own thoughts. I guess I could see the appeal for other students, since it was basically telling them what the adventure of their lives would be. My story, though? Go through school, take over my dad's job, and what else? Oh, right. Nothing. It wasn't too bad, I supposed, since I knew Dani and Court would always be close, and I didn't mind having my dad's job. His job actually sounded great, being able to work with kids and see them grow up and go through their story. I just wished that I could do something else before, and get some excitement.

"For 8th graders, next week you will take a trip to Disneyland to find your glass train. If you're new, the glass trains are miniature and personalized for each character. In order to find yours, you have to do something that represents your character, and it should lead you to your train. The train has a clue to what your story beginning is, and everyone has one week to find their train, which is plenty of time, do not worry. Then you will all go to Disney World to narrow down the vague train clue a bit. High schoolers, you will either start collecting train track bars or keep collecting them, depending on your year. Each student must find four each year in order to complete the train track, so your individual trains can take you back to school where we can play our music!" Dani, Court, and I were the only 8th graders in band, and I was pretty sure our glass trains would say "work until death" so I only smiled at the last part of Sebastian's explanation. I just wanted to get the whole ordeal out of the way so I could play my trumpet. Sebastian then went on to explain more details for the new students. I zoned out on the information that didn't apply to me and when the bell rang, I walked extremely quickly with Dani and Court to the language wings where we all split up, not wanting to hear other students chat about stories.

I would do anything to have a better story.

The week before story development passed in a blur. My teachers seemed alright for the most part, except for De Vil and Yzma. Well, mostly De Vil, Yzma was easy to deal with if you got on her good side and obeyed her every whim. Ms. De Vil yelled at me on the first day for solving a badly worded problem wrong. It was something along the lines of "there are 50 puppies with 40 spots and 49 puppies with 34 spots. How many puppies are there in total?" I had said 99 because clearly the number of spots was a distraction and 50 + 49 = 99. Ms. De Vil, however, said it was 101 because the puppies had parents. I had been extremely annoyed because 1) the problem said nothing about parents and 2) even if it did, the parents would count as full-grown dogs and not puppies, so I was still correct. Then Ms. De Vil had gone on a full rampage on how I wasn't listening to directions she didn't give, and I swear I saw steam coming out of her ears. It's not just me she hates, but I'm certainly at the top of her hate list. Another kid got in trouble because she overheard him joking that she probably made her spotted fur coat by skinning all the puppies in the problem.

Clio and Calliope were really great, and a lot of their lessons went hand-in-hand, making workload easier for us. They used to be in an acapella group together, with Terpsichore, the dance teacher, Melpomene, the drama teacher, and Thalia, who ran the stand-up comedy club after school.

Some electives were only school subjects, others only after-school classes, and some were both. I signed up for after-school fashion design class, since Court, Maddie, and I didn't have many options for during-school electives with two full-year electives. The teacher, Ms. Mode, was known to be brutally harsh but made amazing designs and helped us create amazing things as well, so I didn't mind. Dani signed up for shop class with Geppetto and Court had art with Professor Lasseter, another crosser teacher probably because he taught an elective and went by Professor.

Lilo still hadn't arrived for some reason, but she texted me saying she got caught up and would meet the other 8th graders in Disneyland. The rest of us had grown pretty close to each other, especially Maleficent and Aurora who seemed like soul sisters. Alice and I had grown pretty close as well, Ella being a bit distant but sharing her life with us nonetheless. Dani, Court, and I had a new pattern in life we were gladly falling into, when next thing we knew, we had to pack for Disneyland.

I groaned, aggressively throwing a loose crop top and a skirt in my suitcase while sitting on my bed with my legs hanging off. I was facing my drawer and closet, so I couldn't see Alice or Ella, but could hear them humming and laughing and being happy and all fine and dandy-

"Why are you guys so happy?" I practically shouted at them as I swung my legs around to face them. They immediately stopped chatting and stared at me with baffled eyes. "I'm sorry, that came out really harsh, I just... I'm just curious as to why your story beginning makes you so excited is all." Ella glanced at Alice then back to me.

"Well, I mean, for me it's like a dream come true. I have wished for so long for something amazing to happen to me after my mom died, and I guess this is my chance." I flinched a bit at the mournful words, knowing how important her mom was to her, but Ella seemed more concerned about me, setting down her skirt and walking over to my bed with a worried look on her face. "Are you alright, Maddie? You're usually so bubbly. Why does this, of all things, make you upset?" Alice sat down on my bed as well, a look matching Ella's etched on.

"Um," I avoided Ella's question and looked at Alice. "What about you? Why does this make you happy?" Alice sighed, taking a moment to think.

"I guess, all my life, I've never felt like I knew anything for certain. Most of the time I don't even feel like I'm somewhere real. Like I'm just walking through an imaginary land or something. Once I know what I have to do, what I'm meant to do it's like I don't have to worry about being lost again. Like Ella said, it's a dream come true." After this speech, I couldn't bear to tell her I had my whole life planned out and didn't want it. The three of us sat in a comfortable silence, lost in our own thought. "So, Maddie," Alice started, breaking the sound barrier. "Why does this not make you happy?" I bit my lip, thinking quickly. I didn't want either of my roommates to hate me for the rest of the year and think I was some spoiled unappreciative kid.

"Nothing really, I guess I'm just PMSing." I added a laugh at the last bit for good measure, and the other two joined me. "We should get packing again, I don't wanna be on time."

After that, everything felt like I was underwater. My movements felt significantly drowsier, attempting to drag my heavy heart, and everyone and everything around me sounded muffled. I was sinking deeper and deeper under the surface, but everyone up on the sun couldn't do a thing to help.


	2. So This Is Home

Dani's POV

"Everyone up!" I jumped awake to the sound of Mrs. B shouting and clanging a large bell. Rubbing my eyes, I watched Belle walk out the bathroom in our train compartment, showered, dressed, and ready to go with a smile on her face. Our school counselor rang the bell again, and I could practically imagine her purple cloak swishing around, hood over her short white hair. Maleficent shot up this time, even more shocked than I was.

"What's going on? Are we under attack? I got this, don't worry I take martial arts." Maleficent was in a frenzy, grabbing all the weapons she could find, and I quickly spoke up.

"Hey, we're fine. I don't know what we're getting up for, but from the sounds of it it's nothing too bad," I calmed her and grabbed the objects from her hands. "Besides, anyone strong enough to go after Disney can't be taken down with a fuzzy, dark purple lamp." Maleficent blushed and giggled at this.

"Sorry, I just grabbed what I could find," she explained. Belle laughed with us and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Bye, I'm meeting up with Snow!" Belle said before closing the door gently. I waved back as I started to grab clothes to wear. I normally shower in the mornings, rather than at night, but yesterday Court had accidentally splashed me with mud while jumping in puddles on the way to the train, which I have constantly told her not to do after the age of 6, so I was already clean from scrubbing extremely thoroughly three times the night before.

The three sets of core teachers had come along so we still had to take those classes, but I changed into my dress (hey, calm down, we're all girls) quickly in order to leave more time to find where to go first, whereas Maleficent flopped down in bed. Mrs. B, whose real last name was too long like Bibbidi-Bobbidi-something-or-other, came down the hall again, especially loud and telling us it was our last warning. Aurora began to lazily stretch and open her eyes.

"Morning! Do we have to leave n-" Maleficent cut off Aurora's question with a pillow right to the face.

"Yeah, so get up quick, lazy," she joked. An offended Aurora sat up, dirty blonde hair already smooth and perfect.

"Um, excuse you, but you aren't even up either!" Aurora pointed out to her best friend as she began digging through her drawers. I smirked to myself while clipping my usual over-sized striped bow to the top of my ponytail, listening to the two of them tease as they always did.

"All right, all right, I'm up. Besides, it takes me half the time you take to get ready in the morning." The ebony-haired girl reminded Aurora as she changed in record speed. Aurora didn't even argue, only rolling her pale blue eyes and playfully giving her tongue a wobble. I quickly double-checked all the items in my backpack, grabbed a granola bar, then walked towards the door.

"Bye!" I waved behind me to Aurora, who was attempting to put blush on Maleficent, and the victim of her makeup attack who was strategically dodging the fluffy brush. I saw their distracted half-waves as I locked the door. I wish we still got to take electives. We still had to take core classes, but the two hours of electives was replaced with Disney Prep & Training class.

No one had really told us where Prep & Training would take place, just to go to your core car when it was your elective period. I knocked on the Court's door. Luckily for me, the CCDY (Calliope-Clio-DeVil-Yzma) core car was right next to the car my dorm was in.

My teachers were alright for the most part, except for De Vil and Yzma. Well, mostly De Vil, Yzma was easy to deal with if you got on her good side and obeyed her every whim. Ms. De Vil yelled at me on the first day for solving a badly worded problem wrong. It was something along the lines of "there are 50 puppies with 40 spots and 49 puppies with 34 spots. How many puppies are there in total?" I had said 99 because clearly the number of spots was a distraction and 50 + 49 = 99. Ms. De Vil, however, said it was 101 because the puppies had parents. I had been extremely annoyed because 1) the problem said nothing about parents and 2) even if it did, the parents would count as full-grown dogs and not puppies, so I was still correct. Then Ms. De Vil had gone on a full rampage on how I wasn't listening to directions she didn't give, and I swear I saw steam coming out of her ears. It's not just me she hates, but I'm certainly at the top of her hate list. Another kid got in trouble because she overheard him joking that she probably made her spotted fur coat by skinning all the puppies in the problem.

Calliope and Clio were really great, and a lot of their lessons went hand-in-hand, making workload easier for us. They used to be in an acapella group together, along with Thalia, the comedy teacher, Melpomene, the drama teacher, and Terpsichore, the dance teacher. The two still had a habit of occasionally singing fictional stories or historical stories in class. And damn, can they sing.

"Sorry!" Court said once she opened the door, Jessie following after. "I didn't hear Mrs. B ringing the bell and Jessie had to wake me up by yodeling in my ear," Court explained as we walked to Maddie's room, across the wide hall.

"I knew my yodeling would come in use some day when I'm not on the farm," Jessie said proudly.

"It sure helped me go deaf," Court complained with a light smile, just before Alice answered my knock.

"Hey, sorry, Maddie's in the bathroom making sure her skirt and shoes are the same shade of pink. She's certain the skirt is the tiniest bit lighter." I laughed, knowing that sounded exactly like something Maddie would worry about. Maddie came running to the door, steps surprisingly light for high heels.

"Same shade! We're all set!" I rolled my eyes and was about to laugh when Maddie stopped me. "Hey, you can't complain, 'cause you once made me and Court sit in a supply store for FOREVER just because you wanted to make sure the color of your file tabs matched the binder for each according subject EXACTLY."

"Touché," I gave in, smiling sheepishly. We were almost to the CCDY car when Court stopped suddenly.

"Oh, Jessie, don't you have to get going to the boys dorm cars for your brothers?" Jessie smacked her palm to her freckled face in realization.

"Aw, I bet they're mad I'm so late. Thanks for reminding me! Gotta gallop, gals, see you later!" the energetic redhead hurriedly shouted as she left with a wink and a tip of her cowgirl hat, running off amazingly fast. We laughed as we watched the dust settle behind her, her constantly contagious and cheerful mood waking me up a bit more.

"Well, I guess we should get going," Alice laughed. "Everyone had breakfast, right?"

"I mean, I could always go for more but- Ow!" Court abruptly stopped as a I smacked her in the arm lightly.

"Knowing you, you probably already ate a full lunch meal for breakfast, and I wanna get to the CCDY car early, so no more food!" I scolded the strangely stick-thin girl with the appetite of a black hole.

"Fine," she giggled, reassured by the knowledge that she would eat a ton during brunch break.

Once at the core car, we were greeted by the sound of Mrs. B shouting for all 1st period elective students to stand around her while she wove her wand like crazy, making me afraid she would accidentally shoot off some spell. She was a nice woman, but a little eccentric.

"Attention, please? Ok, settle down. Now, as you all know, this class is to help prepare for Disneyland. You are going to have to remember a lot of important tricks you may have to use to blend with the human crowd, so be listening carefully and writing things down." I grinned, while Court pouted at this news, always more prone to a good party or a game of capture the flag. "You will choose comfortable human clothes to wear at Disneyland and during prep classes, since we will be practicing defense moves." At this, Court jumped with glee ignoring my paled face. Anything movement related was not my thing. "All this awaits in your classroom," Mrs. B finished, then tapped her wand three times on the wall where a door was revealed.

Upon entering a large field of grass, we noticed other kids from other core sets arriving from doors to our right. Among them was Jessie, and a boy with a brown cowboy hat to match his hair who she dragged along with her once she noticed us, to his exasperation.

"Hey y'all! I didn't know we were gonna combine classes, did you?" I was about to reply when she continued. "I normally have art right now, but for obvious reasons I'm here. What do you guys have? Oh right, band. Court told me 'bout that, sounds mighty fun. I wish I could take that class, but I can't seem to make a single sound come out o' those squiggly instruments!" Jessie added to this statement by crossing her eyes and rolling them away from each other as if showing just how squiggly the instruments were. I could see why she and Court hit it off; her rambling could give Court a run for her money. "Oh, and this is Woody, my brother! My real one, not like Andy. Andy's family adopted us. Though I'm sure Court's told you 'cause I told her just the other day how this happened. Why do they say 'just the other day'? Which day? How do you know for sure? Well, I know I told Court two days ago so-"

"Jessie!" Woody lightly pulled on one of his twin sister's braids to get her to stop talking, probably because he noticed we were all extremely overwhelmed, besides Court. Although, I suppose Alice had it hardest, having not known Court either. Least I had experience.

"Sorry 'bout that, I get a little off track sometimes," Jessie apologized, a blush covering her freckles.

"But, uh, yeah, I'm Woody, nice to meet you." He held out his hand, a genuine smile on his face. "Thanks for puttin' up with her, she's a real hard bushel to lasso. I'm gonna go find Andy, he's got this period elective, too." With a smile and a tip of his cowboy hat, he was off. I watched him calmly walk away, saying polite "howdy"s here and there, my mouth gaping open.

"Are you SURE you two are related?" I questioned Jessie, not believing such contrasting personalities could be siblings, much less twins. The others seemed to be thinking the same thing, even Court.

"Yessiree! I know, we're so different. I mean, just look at my freckles!" We all blinked at her obliviousness until Alice awkwardly changed the subject.

"So, you only have two siblings then?" I zoned out for a bit as Jessie replied, scouting around for the teacher. We had been talking for a while and still no adults were present to take control. I tutted, extremely disapproving of disorganized staff. Well, disapproving of disorganized ANYTHING, really, but staff was even worse. I mean, they're adults who are trained to do things right! Sure, people make mistakes but- I checked my striped watch- by 10 minutes?! I shook my head and turned my attention back to Jessie.

"And I guess Hamm counts as a sibling, we treat him like a family member even though he's a pig, not human, and Buster, the dog, Rex the lizard- oh, Rex is the cutest. He tries to be all intimidating and sometimes opens his mouth wide and tries to roar like a dinosaur, but you can't hear anything, and if you try to get him to use his hands to grab something, he looks like a T. Rex with his short little arms, and that's how he got his name." We laughed, but our conversation was cut off.

"ATTENTION!" I jumped six feet in the air as a stern, broad shouldered Chinese guy appeared out of nowhere in front of the group of students. He was also shirtless, which Maleficent, who I just noticed, did not hesitate to point out, wolf-whistling and saying rather loudly, "Damn, I'd take a ride on him over a train any day." Aurora immediately shushed her, and the other girls around them tried to hide their blushes and snickers at her embarrassing bluntness. Lucky for her, he was too busy glaring at other girls who commented even louder on his abs.

The crowd settled and I began to wonder where the guy was from. Maybe he was just a DSD high school student I had never seen around before, because he was definitely older than us, but too young to be out of high school. That wouldn't make sense, though, since all the high schoolers were out on their continued Story training as well.

"When you're on the battlefield, anything sudden and unexpected, such as my appearance, must be reacted to with alertness, caution, and a calm yet firm stature." A girl on the far right of the field snickered at the way he described Disneyland as a battlefield, and earned herself a glare. I'm assuming she was Mulan because of the mass of thick orange curls next to her straight black hair that was Merida, and I knew the two of them were usually joined at the hip. "I'm Shang, and I will be coaching the combative part of your Story Development training. Humans may not seem capable of much, but avoid interaction at all costs, because even we suffer from knowing too much about the human world. It is set in a different time period in the future, and they know the endings of our stories. The certainty of your own story ending may very well result in the end of your existence. Any questions?" There was a pause between his nearly Court-paced talking as he glanced around the students whose moods had been dampened by his serious tone. "Alright, now the clothes should be here any moment, and choose wisely as you will need to be able to do all exercises in class in these outfits and in Disneyland." Right after, racks of clothes appeared before us, and a wide grin spread on Maddie's face, as picking out clothes was her home turf. The field filled with chatter again, students discussing options with their friends and joking about human clothes, as they seemed so odd compared to character outfits which were more extravagant, yet normal in our eyes.

"Guys, dresses over here! Human dresses sure are... Flat," she commented disappointedly as we made our way over. Sure enough, even the wilder human dresses would take some getting used to, as we always wore poofy-skirted dresses with trademark patterns. "This one or this one?" she asked, holding up two.

"By the way, you only have 5 minutes!" Shang shouted. We glanced at each other wide eyed,watching as each of our moods shifted drastically from casual and fun to panicked frenzy mode. Always one to take charge, I started ordering.

"I'll get shoes, Maddie will stay and get dresses, Court will get shirts, Jessie will get shorts, and Alice will get skirts. No time to pick and choose, grab everything you think is good." I said the last part pointedly at Court, knowing her to be very indecisive. After giving each other our sizes and style preferences quickly, we separated and joined together just in time, successful in choice. Shang blew a whistle, and the racks immediately disappeared.

"Good, good. You actually had 15 minutes, nice going." We all gaped at him, appalled he made us freak out and stress over such a small yet important thing when we could've taken our time. He ignored our grumbles and whispered complaints and continued. "Once you focus, you can accomplish what you think cannot be accomplished." He blew the whistle again and random outfits from our pile appeared on us. I bet Mrs. B just waves her wand every time she hears the whistle. "10 laps around the field, last to finish by an interval larger than 15 seconds runs an extra lap!" Everyone groaned loudly at this. The field was pretty big, probably a half mile around. Was he really going to make us run 5 miles?! Not wanting to waste air on complaining out loud, we all reluctantly began running. Next to me, Maddie scoffed.

"Let's see him try to run FIVE frickin miles when he's on his period." I could currently also understand Maddie's pain, and I just prayed my cramps wouldn't kick in.

"I think he is," I responded with an eye roll as we heard him yell at a kid for stopping to tie his shoelace.

After an hour and 5 pounds of sweat, blood, and tears had gone by, the whole class was done. By now I was cool, as my friends and I had finished roughly 10 minutes ago.

"Grandma, is that you?" Maddie joked, stretching her hand up to the sky as she lay on her back in the middle of the field. I smiled and rolled my eyes at her dramatics, pushing her arm back down.

"You're not gonna die from running Maddie."

"Wh-" she sat up angrily. "What did you just say? Do you see me? I am dead. DEAD. I will most certainly die from running! Making me run is like making an orange taste like an apple: it simply cannot be done without destroying the orange because it is not in its nature to taste like an apple, nor is it in the nature of humanity and all that is good in the world for me to run." With an exasperated sigh, she flopped on the field again. "Lord have mercy on the less fortunate and put me out of this misery that is exercise and health."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," Alice noted.

"Easy for you to say, you're way more fit! If it weren't for the kindness of your heart you would've left me and Dani in the dust after the first lap." I nodded at this, remembering how Alice seemed to be holding back a lot when she ran with the two of us. I was also a terrible runner, but I just didn't mind it as much as Maddie.

"I could be nowhere near as fast as Court and Jessie though." We glanced at the two of them now, sleeping and using their arms as a pillow. "I can't believe they took barely over 30 minutes and had the time to nap afterwards." Shang began to stand after lecturing Mulan, who had barely made it under 15 seconds behind the second to last runner and I quickly nudged Jessie and Court awake. They shot up with a surprising amount of energy and seemed completely unfazed by the five miles they just ran and the nap they just awoke from.

"Good job... Some of you," Shang spoke loudly, pointedly staring at Mulan. "Last 35 minutes you will take notes with Mrs. B." At this, everyone cheered up. Sitting still behind a desk didn't sound bad at all compared to what Shang was making us do. "Don't think that just because we're getting to Disneyland tonight we won't keep running tomorrow! Mrs. B can recreate this field very easily and don't complain. It's for your own good I'm making you all man up!"

"Man up? You wanna see what a girl can do? Why you little-" I quickly covered Maddie's mouth as she fired off obscenities and dragged her towards the wall we came from, where Mrs. B had lined up chairs and desks.

Maddie, Dani, and Court's POV

"We're here!" Jessie shouted, waving the rest of us over to the floor-to-ceiling windows in their room where all the girls had pushed together seats in preparation for our first view of Disneyland. It was night, and the sky was a beautiful indigo, the stars twinkling brightly behind the large Disney castle. We were hovered above Main Street, but no one else could see the train or us, of course. The park was still rather crowded below us, as it was still just after 9 o'clock. More and more people began to flock into Main Street quickly, as if waiting for something. All of a sudden, the castle began to glow colors as an image was projected., and a woman's voice began to narrate of how Walt Disney had created this park 60 years ago, and of course, how it all started with a mouse, which Maddie smile proudly at.

All of a sudden, a large blast exploded and colors burst through the sky.

"FIREWORKS!" we all squealed. Color after color, all shapes and sizes, different heights, directions... It was a crazy mess of fireworks in the air, and it was beautiful. The fireworks were extravagant, but that wasn't the only thing that made the view amazing. It was that for some reason, the explosions represented all the ideas Disney had created, all the stories made into movies, dreams turned into reality. A spell had been cast on the train so we couldn't see images of movies that were no doubt being projected and the music was faded to protect our own story futures, but we could still hear the songs that had no lyrics and didn't give away explicit story details. That music was filled with stories, too. We may not have been able to know the stories, but we could feel the presence of moments in stories through the music: when the characters fall in love, when the villain is introduced, the exposition, and, of course, the happy ending. Those were all basic story parts we had learned, but hadn't really understood. No amount of notes, reading, or studying could teach me as much as watching the castle and the sky hanging over it light up.

I had never been to Disneyland before. In fact, I still technically hadn't been. The word Disney had always just been a family and school name to me. But in this moment, watching the last few sparkles shimmer down, I knew I couldn't end up sorting files in the school office as a cartoon mouse. I belonged here.

A/N: AHHHHHHHH GOING TO DISNEYLAND ON A BAND TRIP NEXT WEDNESDAY AHHHHHHH SO EXCITED! Fun fact: I used to go to Disneyland once every two years until 6th grade, when I started going once a year, and it's not planned or anything, it just happens that way ? also thank you so much dawgofdawgness for making sure I didn't turn each chapter into the length of a novel. Still kinda upset they split up the three biggest Disney fangirls into different buses on the trip though... ? oh well, the park is the important part. Another fun fact: Maddie, Court, and Dani are based on me and my co-editors. "Court" has left a message down below:

Editor's note: dis gr8 story OMG MY BROTHER IS PLAYING ZOOTOPIA OST ON FULL VOLUME *eats shit* do you guys hear the trash

See the resemblance? Thanks for reading!  
Best Blue Fairy Wishes,  
Coco


	3. A Goal Worth Fighting For

"I know every mile will be worth my while. When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong." - Hercules

Meg's POV

The tick of the clock was monotone, but deafening in my ears, like it was counting down the time until my death by boredom. My stomach growled in protest of not eating lunch on the first tiring day of freshman year. Unlike other teachers, Mr. Scar did not allow eating during lunch detention, because why not just make students already being unfairly punished suffer more by starving them to death? Flynn began tapping his foot two seats to my right and one row behind me and drumming with his pencils. Scar lifted his head from the pile of pile of tests he was grading and sent Flynn a withering glare.

"Do you mind?"

"Oh, not at all, sir. Continue grading your papers if you wish," Flynn answered cheekily with an award-winning smile. I had to bite my tongue from laughing but a small snort still escaped. The dark-skinned teacher raised his eyebrow so high I thought it would rip another gash around his eye.

Scar rolled his eyes and returned to his work just as a Frisbee whizzed through the open window between my seat and the row in front, ricocheted off the back wall, and slammed into his face. I gasped at the impact and the teacher stood up slowly, his wild mane of hair shaking with anger, and slammed his palms into the table.

"Who. Is. Responsible." He said it more as a statement than a question as he narrowed his dark green eyes into slits. Still giggling a bit, I leaned over my desk to peek out the window where the Frisbee had come flying in and saw Esmerelda, her thick mass of dark locks and vibrant aqua eyes chaotic. She was giggling as well, but much louder, and sent me a smirk before poking her head through the window.

"Sorry, Sir. I'm afraid my aim has been just a tad bit off these past few days." Flynn and I gave each other a knowing grin.

"Get in here, sit down, and do not make a sound or so help me I will strangle you. Is that clear?" He growled, literally growled, but Es seemed to be having the time of her life as she grabbed the top ledge of the window and slid into the classroom gracefully. "Please use the door next time, Esmerelda," Scar sighed with exasperation.

"Huh, how did it not occur to me to walk in through the very place most people walk in? I must be really out of it today," she replied with a mischievous tone of innocence, purposefully causing Mr. Scar to rolls his eyes and not notice as she tossed me an apple she had hidden behind her back and a napkin with a chocolate chip cookie folded inside to Flynn. We both gave her a grateful look and I bit into my apple as quietly as I could. Flynn was silent as well seeing as he devoured the entire cookie in one bite. Es plopped into her seat and propped her leather jean clad legs on the table. "Lunch in here can't be too bad," she whispered to me cheerfully.

"FEET! OFF! THE TABLE!" Scar roared, his voice shifting the first row of chairs. Es rolled her eyes and mocked the teacher at his commands but slid her combat boots off nonetheless.

"The things I do for you two..."

"Haha, look, if I put three of my beans together in this shape it looks like a-"

"Esmerelda!" Pocahontas quickly chided Es before she could finish her sentence, but Flynn, Hercules, and I just howled with laughter. "You can't avoid eating your veggies by making them into the shape of genitalia, you know." Es scoffed and rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"I can do what I want, it's a free island. Also, no one says genitalia anymore. Just call it a di- HI QUASI!" Her words were cut off as she loudly acknowledged Quasimodo, who just entered the dining room, where me, Flynn, Hercules, Pocahontas, and Es were having dinner the night before we had to leave for Disney World.

"Uh, hey Es," Quasi replied quietly, as always, giving his best friend a strange look. Es propped her elbow on the table and grinned at him with the best innocent face she could muster. I took this moment to shove my plate to the side, too worried about the trip, and blurted out the question I had been dying to ask all week.

"Is anyone else scared to death they won't find the bars on time or at all?" The atmosphere of the room dropped as tension built at the thoughts of our expectations.

"I am, but I thought you guys wouldn't understand, being Black Roses and all," Hercules admitted shyly, Black Roses being what other kids had nicknamed me, Esmerelda, and Pocahontas. The others quickly agreed that they were scared, except Flynn who didn't say anything, but that was as good a confession as writing it in stone for him.

"Just because people think we're intimidating, we're not any different, ya know," Esmerelda reminded Hercules in response to his thought that the three of us wouldn't be scared. It bothered Es that a stupid nickname from kids who didn't want to keep saying our long names had developed into a name others used to judge us before getting to know us. As a social butterfly, being considered simply a dark-haired beauty with nothing more in her character was seen as a an obstacle that blocked her from making new friends. I was fine with it, not big on making friends anyways. Pocahontas said people see what they wanna see, and we can only do so much about it. Flynn snorted at Es's defense.

"Are you kidding me? When I first realized you guys were in my grade and we got to know each other, you three scared me so bad I almost didn't talk to you." Hercules and Quasi agreed with him adamantly.

"It was worse for me, I had never been outside the bell tower before, and on my first day in school, the first people I met were intensely gorgeous girls," Quasi laughed, a slightly bitter tone at the reminder of his adoptive father, an ambitious pope.

"Please, I met Wonderboy over here when he saved me from being run over by a horse by picking up the whole horse before it could go farther. I think that qualifies as way more intimidating," I noted, nudging Hercules at the fond memory of how I discovered his incredible strength.

"Look, we're all going to be perfectly fine, ok? I bet students before us have worried about this, and they got through it, so we can too," Pocahontas assured us, always one to believe in overcoming problems. We nodded, and I stood up to clear my dishes.

"You're leaving already?" Es asked, probably disappointed to have a smaller crowd to talk to.

"Yeah, not really hungry anymore," I explained, even though I had barely eaten.

"At least have some pomegranate, I went to the town to get these, and they're super good, but have seeds-"

"No!" I shouted, interrupting Pocahontas rudely. Everyone gaped at me, and I quickly lowered my voice and apologized for my outburst. "I mean, uh, no, thanks. I haven't done any packing either and I should get started on that." They all gave me a weird look but let it go as I chuckled nervously. I left the dishes in the sink since it was Flynn's turn to wash dishes and walked back to my dorm, which was empty since Es and Pocahontas were my only roommates.

Closing the door behind me, I breathed out in exhaustion, and reluctantly dragged my already packed luggage from underneath my bed. I found my makeup remover bottle, which actually held a secret potion. I walked to the bathroom, ran the sink water with the plug on until the sink was halfway full, and dumped one drop of the potion into the water. Hades' face immediately showed up, impatiently tapping his fingers and waiting for my "call."

"Ah! There you are, what took so long?" He asked, fiery blue hair crackling. I opened my mouth to make an excuse but he stopped me with an outstretched, pale, bony hand. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Let's get to the important information. Does he doubt himself?" my master asked, referring to Hercules. I guiltily nodded my head, hand on my cocked hip so Hades wouldn't suspect any weakness. "Good, now we can use that seed of doubt to make him weak! Speaking of seeds, have you changed your mind about the pomegranate seeds yet?" he asked, changing the conversation slyly.

"No. I refuse to eat those and stay in the Underworld, and I'm not going to change my mind," I answered firmly.

"Are you sure? I mean, what do you have to stay for? Your ex-boyfriend who you traded your soul to me for him to be alive again left you for another girl. It seems to me you don't have much luck in love, and it's not like your 'friends' actually care about you." Hades indifferently checked his nails, and I gritted my teeth.

"I would rather be lonely up here than have you as company in the Underworld," I fired back, to which Hades tutted in response.

"What, do tell, are we going to do about that sass of yours, Megara?" I muttered "Meg" to remind him my nickname but he ignored me. "Fine. Be that way. Once you get Hercules down, you'll have your freedom, I promise." I heard Es and Pocahontas in the hallway chatting, footsteps quickly approaching.

"I have to go, I'll speak to you tomorrow night," I hurriedly said, glancing at the door and draining the water out, willing for the now cyan blue liquid to disappear faster. I rushed to my bed and stuffed the bottle back into the front pocket of the suitcase, then threw some clothes out of the suitcase and began slowly packing them back in as my roommates opened the door.

"Hey, you're almost done!" Pocahontas noted as I folded one of the four dresses I had thrown out of the suitcase. "Dang, girl, you're fast." I smiled, which was a hard feat to accomplish as my guilt from lying to them was weighing down the corners of my mouth.

Having already showered before dinner, I changed into my nightgown and slipped under the covers of my purple and gold bed, leaning over to my desk drawer to pull out my glass train. It fit nicely in my hand and I brought it near my eyes to read the small engraved letters.

I sighed, stomach twisting as I listened to the sound of Esmerelda and Pocahontas talking and teasing merrily, laughing when Es got tangled in the sheet covers and fell off the bed. Once I ruined Hercules, I couldn't bear to face the others and keep lying, and I would have to escape to the human world, which Hades had agreed to arrange. I would miss these simple moments with my friends, but I had to what was meant for me. The three words on my train rang in my ears as I put it back in the drawer and closed my eyes.

Defeat for freedom.

Naveen's POV

I laughed, twirling Tiana in the middle of the empty Cooking classroom. The jazzy song playing from my phone ended and I brought her forehead to mine, looking into her chocolate colored eyes.

"See? You can dance. You just need an amazing guide, such as me," I whispered, a teasing smile on both our lips.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," she responded, pushing away from me gently and picking up the brownie container on the table. "I have to take this to the office for the teachers now."

"Ok, ok. Can I have just one?" I asked sneakily, referring to the brownies since I knew everything edible Tiana made was absolutely delicious.

"I knew you would ask for some, so I made you an extra batch," my kitchen whiz of a girlfriend responded, nodding to another brownie container on the countertop. I grinned in excitement and quickly removed the lid to inhale one, or five. "But!" she cut in before I could take a bite. "Don't eat all of it right now, you'll get a stomach ache. Remember what happened last time I warned you about the beignets and you didn't listen?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I was sure my insides we're going to melt in my stomach then explode." I grimaced at the horrible memory, then gave her a quick kiss goodbye before she left.

Biting into the brownie piece, I closed my eyes and felt warmth and happiness spread over me. Tiana's food was something special, like you could taste the heart and soul she poured into making each little crumb. I was glad more people could experience this feeling, once she got her restaurant. If she got her restaurant, a tiny voice in my head reminded me, and I shook my head to clear the despairing idea. We would find a way... Somehow. I told Tiana I could always go back to my parents and ask for the money, but she insisted on doing it through hard work. While I admired her independent determination, this was our senior year and things would get much harder once we left school. Just wanting to study music already had me stressed about money, so I couldn't even imagine how she had the mental strength to strive for owning a restaurant.

I glanced at my phone to check the time as I waited for her to come back, but the background caught my eye instead. It was us last year in junior year, after Tiana had been chosen to cook for the end of the year party for grades 8-12, and staff. I had recently just had the nerve to ask her out a couple months prior, and I was hugging her around the waist from behind, a smile on my lips. Tiana was in her apron, holding the wooden spoon from the gumbo proudly, a grin so wide on her face it looked as if she was about to explode with happiness.

I smiled to myself and blinked out of my trance as my phone fell asleep again, and thought about the picture. I wanted her to stay that happy for as long as possible, as soon as possible. I wanted her to keep having faith in herself, never give up, and have the feeling of making people from everywhere happy with her food for forever. No matter what mountain I had to climb, river I had to cross, I would find a way to make her happy.

A/N: Ok so I had this done a while ago, but I never posted it cuz I kept thinking I was gonna add another POV, but I had absolutely no inspiration for the other one, so hopefully I can write that up soon. I'm a huge Belle fan, and when I saw Belle at Disneyland I almost melted cuz she was that gorgeous. Tip: if you need to get somewhere by 9:00, don't see the Paint the Night Parade cuz even though it's supposed to end at 8:50, stupid people who have been warned four times previous to get off the streets will still be on the streets at 8:40 and you will have SEVERAL mishaps trying to make your way to your destination... My editor and I can attest to that.

Editor's note: Buy our fish at 50% off today! They're in a great mood!

... This is why I made her Court.  
Best Blue Fairy Wishes,  
Coco


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